This is in CA.
Can an unethnical landlord hide under layers of trust that owns the house in order to avoid being sued for kicking out tenant and holding their security deposit? It is a hefty deposit too! nothing like on a few hundred dollars..
I rented a room from a man lets call him jackass fatty who lives in a single family house and who rents out rooms to students in the house that he himself also lives in.
He locked me out several times, i was stupid and didn't call police.
He once forced me to give me my house keys or else he wouldn't let me leave the room and i would be late for a flight and won't give me them back to me when I got back. this was before the lease is up, hence my staying at a motel after he threw my luggage out the patio that very same day i got back and locked the door. I never signed an aggreement to leave early! He threw my room stuff out on the curb two days later and refused a walkthrough. I was also stupid and have no pictures to prove it but have storange unit and motel costs and calls to his phone. Yes, I was stupid by not calling police. I am just in college.
after that, he Won't return deposit, and i call him (landlord/jackass fatty), doesn't pick up ever. No reponse to texts either. Later calls from friend's phone, he picks up, claims he is a cousin of the landlord and that he is dying of cancer, can't give back deposit. this is recorded on videocam. I am a student and don't have much money.
Here's the kicker:
the landlord named jackass fatty whom i signed the lease with is NOT the owner of the house. The owner of the house a trust called lets say Sam E. Stevens (Trust) and I went to tax assessor's to verify this. Then I went to the county clerk-recorder and found the deed. THe deed says, house on this parcel number is owned by Sam E. Stevens and Sucessors. (trust) no trustees are mentioned. An alternative office address is given for the trust that is different from the parcel number linking this house to the address on the lease.
1)
So: Do i sue the landlord Jackass Fatty or Sam E Stevens?
For the address, do i put the address on the lease which is the address of the landlord Jackass fatty and where I lived? Or do I put the address found on the deed?
2.) Also, Jackass fatty the landlord told me once that he did not own the house, but rather was on a program where he was renting to eventually own the place, except that unlike rent to own, he was guarenteed a contract to buy the house after renting for xyz amount of years....I am pretty sure Sam E Stevens has no idea what is going on or if Jackass fatty is renting out rooms or not. Is this lawsuit going to cause problems for Jackass Fatty to eventually gain ownership of the house from Sam E Stevens?
3.) So, Small claims told me there is no need for a demand letter in CA. However, Should I send one to the office at the deed mentioned whose ofice should be Sam E Stevens? or to Jackass fatty?
4.)
Is there anything I can do to get back motel costs as well as triple security deposit? Jackass fatty has ripped off strings of students, mostly international students who can't sue once they are back in France or India!
Can an unethnical landlord hide under layers of trust that owns the house in order to avoid being sued for kicking out tenant and holding their security deposit? It is a hefty deposit too! nothing like on a few hundred dollars..
I rented a room from a man lets call him jackass fatty who lives in a single family house and who rents out rooms to students in the house that he himself also lives in.
He locked me out several times, i was stupid and didn't call police.
He once forced me to give me my house keys or else he wouldn't let me leave the room and i would be late for a flight and won't give me them back to me when I got back. this was before the lease is up, hence my staying at a motel after he threw my luggage out the patio that very same day i got back and locked the door. I never signed an aggreement to leave early! He threw my room stuff out on the curb two days later and refused a walkthrough. I was also stupid and have no pictures to prove it but have storange unit and motel costs and calls to his phone. Yes, I was stupid by not calling police. I am just in college.
after that, he Won't return deposit, and i call him (landlord/jackass fatty), doesn't pick up ever. No reponse to texts either. Later calls from friend's phone, he picks up, claims he is a cousin of the landlord and that he is dying of cancer, can't give back deposit. this is recorded on videocam. I am a student and don't have much money.
Here's the kicker:
the landlord named jackass fatty whom i signed the lease with is NOT the owner of the house. The owner of the house a trust called lets say Sam E. Stevens (Trust) and I went to tax assessor's to verify this. Then I went to the county clerk-recorder and found the deed. THe deed says, house on this parcel number is owned by Sam E. Stevens and Sucessors. (trust) no trustees are mentioned. An alternative office address is given for the trust that is different from the parcel number linking this house to the address on the lease.
1)
So: Do i sue the landlord Jackass Fatty or Sam E Stevens?
For the address, do i put the address on the lease which is the address of the landlord Jackass fatty and where I lived? Or do I put the address found on the deed?
2.) Also, Jackass fatty the landlord told me once that he did not own the house, but rather was on a program where he was renting to eventually own the place, except that unlike rent to own, he was guarenteed a contract to buy the house after renting for xyz amount of years....I am pretty sure Sam E Stevens has no idea what is going on or if Jackass fatty is renting out rooms or not. Is this lawsuit going to cause problems for Jackass Fatty to eventually gain ownership of the house from Sam E Stevens?
3.) So, Small claims told me there is no need for a demand letter in CA. However, Should I send one to the office at the deed mentioned whose ofice should be Sam E Stevens? or to Jackass fatty?
4.)
Is there anything I can do to get back motel costs as well as triple security deposit? Jackass fatty has ripped off strings of students, mostly international students who can't sue once they are back in France or India!
Last edited: